“Our first Charter value is Sustainability and we maintain a relentless focus on the health and safety of our people and the communities in which we operate,” he said.

“A strong management team and over 123,000 talented employees and contractors in 21 countries have improved safety, increased production and delivered more value for shareholders and all our stakeholders.”

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie said employees had maintained their commitment to Sustainability and helped achieve annual production records at 12 operations and across four commodities.

“In a year of record production we had no fatalities at our operated assets and improved our total recordable injury frequency performance by 9 per cent to 4.2 injuries per million hours worked,” he said.

“While we are encouraged to have recorded a year without fatalities, we must never rest on past performance. We will continue to relentlessly identify and manage material health and safety risks to protect our people and communities.”

Demonstrating the Company’s commitment to transparency and ethical business conduct, the Sustainability Report is prepared in accordance with the:

International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) Sustainable Development Framework, and

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) with disclosure of payments of taxes and royalties from resource developments reported on a country-by-country basis.

The full reports and accompanying documents, including the Annual Report, Sustainability Report, Summary Review and Notices of Meeting, are all available online in a new Annual Reporting section on bhpbilliton.com.

Highlights from the 2014 reports include:

Total recordable i​​njury frequency reduced by 9 per cent with no fatalities at our operated assets

Revenue up by 2 per cent to US$67.2 billion

Net operating cash flow increased by 26 per cent to US$25.4 billion

An increase of 4 per cent in the total dividend per share to 121 US cents

A 9 per cent increase in production on a copper equivalent basis with record production at 12 operations and across four commodities

Greenhouse gas emissions (CO2-e) reduced by 1.7 million tonnes

US$241.7 million invested in community programs, including US$100 million to the BHP Billiton Foundation

Supporting the release of the Sustainability Report, BHP Billiton is also holding an Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) briefing with comprehensive information on the Company’s approach to the management of climate change risk, governance, health, safety, environment and community.

Mr Mackenzie said BHP Billiton supported global economic growth and development through the supply of critical natural resources and community investment.

“We support local economies through employment, infrastructure development, taxes and royalties, as well as purchasing local goods and services. We are part of these communities and we strive to be a positive and active participant in community life.”

He said sustainable growth also required an effective response to climate change.

“We accept the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s assessment that warming of the climate is unequivocal, the human influence is clear, and physical impacts are unavoidable.

“We are taking action by focusing on reducing our emissions, increasing our preparedness for physical climate impacts and working with others, including industry and governments, to support effective responses to climate change.”

Mr Mackenzie said the achievements of the last financial year should give shareholders, employees and communities great confidence in the Company’s strategic direction and risk management.

“Our focus on productivity within the spirit of Our Charter, is delivering ongoing returns for our shareholders, directly benefitting broader society, and supporting our work to respect and protect the environment,” he said.

“To our talented and hardworking employees and contractors, it is because of your commitment that we are delivering on our productivity agenda, sustainably and ethically, becoming more competitive and delivering to resource our future.”